What my dad is teaching me
Have you ever wished your parents were different?
Maybe you wished your mom spoke up and used her voice more…or less. Maybe you wished your dad was more present, or willing to share his emotions. Maybe you wished your parents understood you better and acknowledged you more. Or maybe you wished they were still here and you could share one more cup of tea together.
I am intimately familiar with this wish of wanting my parents to be different, particularly in my relationship with my dad. It’s terrain I don’t share about often in my work and one I hadn’t planned to share more about until one of my brilliant clients invited me to be a guest on her podcast.
Her name is Lindsey Lewis and her podcast is titled, Things I’d Never Say. After having her first child and experiencing the shock of early motherhood, she was inspired to create a safe place where people could talk about their messy, imperfect, embarrassing moments—basically, the stories they didn’t want to talk about!
When she approached me about being a guest on her show it was clear that it was time for me to talk about my relationship with my biological father. This felt vulnerable and edgy, as he and I have had quite a journey. We’ve gone from not talking for 15 years to talking at birthdays and holidays to now texting almost daily.
In my episode, I share more about:
our back story—all the messy things that went down in my childhood
how an unexpected moment opened up space for forgiveness inside of me
how I feel about him texting me almost daily now that his wife passed away
how I work with residual anger that bubbles up from time to time
what I’ve learned about myself, memory and healing through him
and more.
If you have a parent or are a parent take a listen. My intention is that it serve you in connecting more with your own loving heart, so that you can see with clearer eyes.
If you do listen, let me know what you take away. It’s meaningful for me to hear when sharing these vulnerable moments makes a difference in your life.
With Fierce Loving,
Amber